A blog following the journey of our premature twins, Joe and Harry who were born on 28/01/10 at only 23 weeks gestation.

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

So an update on the little people. Joe had an unsettled morning. He is off morphine now so is much more aware of what’s happening to him, and this morning he was crying when the nurses were doing things with him. He can’t make a noise when he cries because of the vent tube in his throat, but his little chin was wobbling and his face looked so sad, it was heartbreaking watching and not being able to help. His steroids have been reduced from three times a day to twice a day as his blood sugar levels are very high, despite being on insulin. His ventilator setting have also had to be increased today, but his oxygen has stayed below 40% which is good. He is having a blood transfusion this evening as he is looking a bit pale and on top of everything he has a sore bottom too :(

Harry is just being Harry. Ventilator settings are up and down but his oxygen requirements are minimal, I think they were only at 25% or so when I left him. If you look closely at the pictures I have posted of him from today you will see that there are no lines or drips going into him. He kept clonking himself on the head with the one in his hand so he must be extra relieved not to be giving himself a headache every time he tries to get comfy.

Both babies have stopped caffeine, which is a step backwards as it means that removal of ventilation isn’t imminent, but with their lungs being so tiny it’s not unexpected. A bit of a disappointment for me as I was looking forward to them progressing onto CPAP, not to mention that hopefully when that happens I will get my first cuddle. I can’t wait to be able to hold them.

Edited to add: Joe is now nice and pink from his blood. He also had another chest x-ray earlier so will probably get the results of that tomorrow on the ward round. Harry is the same, but his oxygen has gone up to 32%.